OF  CAUFO% 


HO'  ''A'OjilV.')  30 


^UDNY-SOV^ 


n  i  j  P 

r—          ku 

E»    55  ,— 'I 


^EUNIVERS/A        AvlOS-ANCEl 

*— &  >i      ^?    ^^^. 


. 
- 


Stack 
Annex 


5019064 


THE  APPEAL  FOR  SOCIAL  JUSTICE.' 


AN   ADDRESS   IN   THE   RODEF  SHALOM  TEMPLE 
PITTSBURGH,    SUNDAY,    NOVEMBER    3,     1912. 


Thus    saith    the    Lord,    Keep    ye    justice    and    do    ye    equity. 
(Isaiah  LVI.,  1.) 


It  is  usually  assumed  that  the  great  service  to  man- 
kind rendered  by  the  founder  of  our  faith  was  the  dis- 
covery of  the  existence  of  one  God.  There  are  those 
among-  us  who  cherish  the  belief  that  Abraham,  the 
friend  of  God,  became  the  father  of  the  Hebrew  people 
because,  in  his  day,  it  had  dawned  upon  his  intelligence 
alone  that  the  world  was  the  creation  of  a  single,  in- 
finite mind.  Many  Jews  believe  in  rearing  their  child- 
ren in  respect  for  the  covenant  of, Abraham,  because 
they  hold  that  the  keynote  of  the  Jewish  religion  is  the 
belief  in  the  existence  of  one  God,  which,  in  the  last 
analysis,  was  the  discovery  made  by  our  father  Abra- 
ham. 

Abraham's  Service  to  Mankind. 

In  very  truth  this  is  not  the  greatest  feature  of 
Abraham's  service  to  mankind.  It  is  true  that  we  as- 
sociate with  the  name  of  our  patriarch  the  belief  in 


*  By  the  Rev.  J.  Leonard  Levy,   Rabbi  of  the  Congregation. 
Stenographically  reported  by  Caroline  Loewenthal. 


monotheism  as  opposed  to  the  polytheism  which  pre- 
vailed in  his  day.  It  is  true  that  we  have  come  to  look 
upon  Abraham  as  the  great  exponent  of  a  religion  based 
:il)on  the  idea  that  there  is  only  one  God,  a  truth  which 
lie  preached  at  the  sacrifice  of  home,  family,  dear  ones 
and  country.  Xo  doubt  he  was  moved  to  his  mission 
because  he  saw  the  evils  which  the  idolatry  resulting 
from  the  belief  in  many  gods  brought  upon  society  in 
his  age.  He  saw  barbaric  cruelty  exercised  in  the  social 
system.  He  saw  the  ruthless  tyranny  characteristic  of 
irovernmcnts  uninfluenced  by  democratic  ideals.  He 
saw  the  wholesale  slaughter  of  the  innocent  children 
who  were  sacrificed  to  please  a  celestial  ogre.  He  saw 
prostitution  consecrated  as  a  religious  form  in  Asiatic 
temples.  This  the  spiritual  and  keen  Abraham  attri- 
buted to  the  prevailing  false  conceptions  of  God;  for 
although  Abraham  revered  God,  long  before  his  time, 
men  had  worshipped  some  form  of  God ;  long  before  his 
birth  the  earth  had  been  covered  with  temples;  long  be- 
fore his  departure  from  Chaldea,  sacrifices  and  services 
were  held  in  places  of  worship. 

The  Discovery  of  a  Moral  God. 

Abraham  bad  not  only  observed  that  religion,  as  it 
was  understood  in  his  day,  was  a  public  curse,  but  he 
also  rcali/ed  that  it  ought  to  be  converted  into  a  gen- 
eral blessing.  He  not  only  had  a  fairly  accurate  con- 
ception of  this  world,  for  he  held  that  it  was  ruled  by 
<  ne  Power  and  not  by  many,  but  he  had  more,  and  here- 
in lies  his  distinction.  lie  was  the  first  man  in  all  his- 


tory,  as  far  as  the  records  show,  to  believe  that  God 
was  interested  in  other  things  than  prayers  and  sacrifices 
and  offerings  and  processions  and  hymns  and  music  and 
splendid,  inspiring  services.  When  in  our  Scriptures, 
(Genesis  xviii.,  19),  the  writer  puts  into  the  mouth  of 
God  an  expression  of  His  high  approval  of  Abraham, 
he  makes  God  to  say  of  Abraham,  "I  know  him  that  he 
will  command  his  children  and  his  household  after  him 
that  they  keep  the  way  of  the  Lord,  to  do  righteousness 
and  justice." 

God  Most  Interested  in  Human  Morals. 

Here  was  Abraham's  contribution  to  religious  de- 
velopment. Not  only  did  he  believe  that  there  was  one 
God,  a  belief  the  discovery  of  which  conferred  on  him 
great  distinction,  but  he  believed  that  there  was  only 
one  moral  God.  That  is  the  great  truth  of  our  faith. 
That  is  the  truth  which  Judaism  preached  to  an  unbe- 
lieving world'  and  which  still  has  a  world  to  conquer. 
Only  the  few  have  quite  realized  this  truth  yet.  Only 
the  few  really  live  by  this  conviction.  But  the  time  will 
come  when  the  world  will  be  filled  with  the  knowledge 
of  God,  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea ;  and  when  that 
knowledge  will  be  possessed  of  all  men  they  will  learn 
its  corollary, — that  if  there  is  only  one  moral  God  ruling 
the  universe,  the  distinguishing  characteristic  of  man, 
His  child,  must  be  that  morality  which  is  the  marked 
characteristic  of  the  Father  revealed  to  us  through 
Abraham  and  his  descendants. 

Morality  is  not  religion,  but  morality  is  the  high- 
3 


est  expression  which  religion  takes  in  our  daily  lives. 
Nothing  can,  with  the  worshippers  of  a  moral  God,  take 
the  place  of  morality  in  the  eyes  of  that  God.  Not  all 
your  priests  and  leaders  and  ecclesiastics;  not  all  your 
magnificent  pictures  and  churches  and  saints;  not  all 
your  grand  organs  and  choirs  and  songs,  can  be  pleasing 
to  God  unless  those  who  offer  such  worship  lead  moral 
lives.  This  is  Judaism's  view.  The  son  of  Israel  who 
docs  not  live  harmoniously  with  this  view  is  not  a  true 
Jew.  lie  may  worship  God  on  the  traditional  Jewish 
Sabbath,  and  keep  every  ceremony  commanded  in,  or 
deduced  from,  any  portion  of  our  Scriptures;  yet  if  he 
denies  God  by  immorality,  he  rejects  the  most  essential 
principle  of  Judaism. 

Abraham's  Discovery  a  Seed  Thought. 

The  discovery  made  by  Abraham  would  have  had 
little  influence  on  the  world  if  it  had  dijed  with  him. 
From  his  loins  arose  a  certain  people,  a  certain  prophet- 
class,  a  certain  religious  community,  as  I  like  to  call 
the  Jews,  which,  by  its  peculiar  views,  was  set  apart  to 
become  the  witnesses  of  what  became,  later  on,  the  be- 
1'efs  and  teachings  of  Israel.  No  one  can  truly  say  that 
our  people  have  been  false  to  that  purpose.  On  the 
whole,  Israel  has  been  faithful,  and  while  we  have  never 
liad  a  full  opportunity  of  offering  our  hopes  and  ideals 
to  a  friendly  general  community,  yet  Israel  has  never 
forsaken  his  calling  and  duty.  Within  a  thousand  years 
of  the  birth  of  Abraham,  a  school  arose  among  the  peo- 
ple of  Israel,  known  as  the  Prophetic  Guild.  Thence 


came  the  world's  spiritual  giants  who  fearlessly  an- 
nounced that  their  people  were  departing  from  the 
way  indicated  by  Abraham  in  that  they  did  not  live 
righteously.  Once  again  the  Prophets  proclaimed  the 
old  truth :  God  loves  justice  and  righteousness.  As  the 
Psalmist  put  it,  "The  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteous- 
ness." Every  Prophet  from  Amos  to  Malachi,  from  the 
first  to  the  last  of  the  so-called  Prophets  of  Israel  who 
lived  between  the  period  of  800  B.  C.  E.  and  300  B.  C. 
E.,  arose  and  emphasized  the  distinctive  teaching  of 
Abraham,  that  God  is  best  served  by  justice  and  right- 
eousness. 

Attempting  the   Impossible. 

Last  Tuesday  evening  you  heard  one  of  the  most 
distinguished  living  teachers  in  the  house  .of  Israel,  my 
former  preceptor,  Dr.  Israel  Abrahams.  In  course  of  his 
stirring  and  learned  address  he  told  us  that  perhaps  the 
most  interesting  challenge  to  our  imagination,  as  we 
study  civilization,  is  the  attempt  made  by  men  to  do  the 
thing  that  seemed  impossible ;  that  whereas  any  man 
can  do  the  possible,  only  a  man  of  worth,  of  ability,  and, 
of  great  faith,  will  attempt  the  impossible.  It  was  a 
saint  of  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  who  said,  Credo 
quia  incredibile  est,  "I  believe  because  it  seems  in- 
credible." 

Surely  if  you  will  put  yourselves  back  a  few  de- 
cades and  conjure  before  your  mind's  eye  the  picture 
of  the  little  house  in  which  you  then  lived,  of  the  tiny 
store  in  which  you  conducted  your  business,  of  the  lit- 


tie  office  in  which  you  practiced;  if,  in  a  word,  you  will 
consider  the  time  at  which,  and  the  conditions  under 
which,  your  career  began,  you  will  now  see  that  you 
then  dreamed  dreams  and  indulged  hopes,  while  fancy 
painted  a  picture  of  what  yet  might  be.  It  all  seemed 
impossible ;  but  you  never  lost  heart.  The  man  who 
had  a  little  store  about  twenty  foot  front,  dreamed  the 
dream  that  some  day  he  would  own  a  big  department 
store.  The  man  who  had  a  few  dollars  indulged  the 
1'Cjpe  that  he  might  increase  them  into  an  abundant  in- 
come. The  young  man  who  began  the  practice  of  law 
or  medicine,  or  what  not,  fondled  the  thought  that, 
Mime  day.  lie  might  become  an  authority  among  the 
members  of  his  profession.  As  young  men  you  indulged 
hopes;  the  seemingly  impossible  has  been  realized. 

The  Germ  of  the  Messianic  Ideal. 

So  in  the  discovery  made  by  Abraham  there  was  in- 
finite possibility.  The  germ  took  root.  The  impossible 
became  the  actual.  Abraham's  seed  grew  in  spiritual 
power.  From  the  seed-thought,  "God  loveth  righteous- 
ness," there  developed  the  hope  that  some  day  a  state 
of  society  would  exist  where  righteousness  and  justice 
would  not  abide  in  heaven  with  God,  but  would  be  es- 
tablished here  on  earth  among  men.  The  Prophets 
revelled  in  the  hope  of  that  future.  They  dreamed  for 
us  that  the  day  would  come  when  "nation  would  not 
lift  up  sword  against  nation  and  when  they  would 
learn  war  no  more;"  and  this  ideal  they  did  not  express 
in  times  like  these,  when  presidents  of  great  republics 


and  kings  of  great  empires  had  already  exchanged  mes- 
sages on  such  a  subject,  but  at  a  time  when  the  tramp- 
ing feet  of  armies  were  heard  on  every  side  every  day 
in  the  week. 

Again,  they  spoke  of  the  time  when  "the  world 
would  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  God  as  the  waters 
cover  the  sea ;"  and  this  hope  they  did  not  express  in 
an  era  when  universities  adorned  the  earth  and  educa- 
tion was  free,  but  when  the  world  was  covered  with 
ignorance  and  education  was  denied  to  the  average  in- 
dividual. Again,  they  loved  to  dip  into  the  future  and 
dream  of  the  age  when  the  industrial  conditions  of  the 
world  would  be  improved,  when  the  brute  qualities  in 
man  would  be  subdued,  when  the  lion  of  power  and  the 
bull  of  toil  would  lie  down  together,  when  the  wolf  of 
authority  and  the  lamb  of  innocence  would  eat  side  l»y 
side,  when  the  social  system  would  be  such  that  no 
little  child  would  be  hurt  by  existing  conditions,  when 
such  reasonableness  would  prevail  that  a  little  child 
would  lead  man. 

The  Coming  of  the  Messiah. 

Thus  out  of  the  teaching  that  God  loves  moralitv, 
that  "the  righteous  Lord  loveth  righteousness,"  out  ot 
the  conception  which  is  associated  with  Abraham  of 
old  that  God  loves  justice  and  righteousness,  grew  the 
great  Messianic  hope  of  the  people  of  Israel.  The  one 
was  the  ultimate  and  natural  consequence  of  the  other. 
If  God  loves  justice  and  righteousness,  and  if  man, 


His  child,  loves  that  which  He  loves,  the  day  could  not 
be  far  distant  when  the  earth  would  be  the  sphere  in 
which,  universally,  these  principles  would  be  practiced. 
In  that  age  the  Messianic  Kingdom  would  be  established 
for  Israel  and  for.  the  nations  through  the  ministrations 
of  Israel. 

After  the  Captivity. 

Again  and  again  Jews  believed  that  the  Messiah 
was  about  to  come.  When  the  exiles  in  Babylon  sat 
by  the  river-side  and  wept  for  their  lost  Zion ;  when 
they  refused  to  sing  the  songs  of  the  Lord  upon  a 
strange  land;  when  strangers  jeered  at  them  and  told 
them  that  the  Lord  had  forsaken  them;  when  they 
pledged  that  their  right  hand  might  lose  its  ability  and 
their  tongues  might  cleave  to  their  palate  if  they  for- 
sook Jerusalem;  then  the  Prophet  came  and  said,  "Com- 
fort ye.  my  people;  every  valley  shall  be  exalted,  and 
every  hill  made  low,  and  the  path  shall  be  made  straight 
that  ye  may  rejoice  in  the  Messianic  kingdom  in  Pal- 
estine." The  exiles  returned,  but  the  Messiah  came  not. 

In    the  Days  of  Rome's  Triumph. 

In  the  turbulent  days  of  the  Roman  Empire,  when 
the  Jewish  people  living  in  Palestine  saw  the  legions 
of  Rome  tightening  their  crushing  grip  upon  them,  the 
prayer  was  offered,  "Oh  that  a  redeemer  would  come 
unto  Zion!"  In  the  heart  of  the  average  Jew  the  wish 
was  formed  that  some  mighty  man  would  arise  in  Israel 


8 


who,  like  David,  the  prototype,  would  overthrow  the 
enemy  which  threatened  the  existence  of  Palestine;  but 
he  came  not.  A  handful  of  Palestinians  did  believe 
that,  just  about  that  period,  there  was  one  young  Jew 
who  was  crucified  by  the  Romans,  and  of  whom  a  few 
of  the  people  said,  so  we  are  told  in  Christian  records, 
that  this  was  the  chosen  one,  the  anointed  one  prom- 
ised to  Israel, — the  Messiah.  But  we  stand  nineteen 
hundred  years  from  that  day ;  warships  are  still  being 
built.  This  very  day  Christian  powers  are  battling  with 
Mohammedans  in  Turkey.  This  very  day,  knowledge 
is  not  the  inheritance  of  all  men.  This  very  day,  all 
over  the  civilized  world  the  slaughter  of  innocent  babes 
is  being-  continued.  This  very  day,  the  hatred  between 
the  masses  and  masters,  between  employer  and  employee, 
between  capitalist  and  laborer,  is  intense.  Nearly  all 
over  the  world  today  religious  intolerance  still  .exists. 
Protestant  bigotry  vents  its  ugly  and  unrighteous  spleen 
upon  Roman  Catholics  in  this  country,  while  in  Russia, 
the  powers  that  be  still  condone  or  permit  the  massacre 
of  Jews,  nineteen  hundred  years  after  the  advent  of  the 
so-called  Prince  of  Peace,  nineteen  centuries  after  the 
introduction  of  the  so-called  Messiah's  reign  of  peace 
and  good-will. 

A  Jew  was  crucified,  as  Jews  have  always  been ;  but 
the  Messiah  came  not. 

In  the  Nineteenth  Century. 

Twenty-five  years  ago  it  was  believed  that  the  modern 
Messiah  had  come  in  America.     If  you  read  the  litera- 


lure  of  that  period  you  will  find  that  frequent  expres- 
sion was  given  to  the  belief  that  the  time  was  nigh 
when  sectarian  doctrines  which  invite  separatism  were 
about  to  depart,  that  the  idea  was  current  that  men 
were  about  to  agree  upon  a  common  basis  of  religious 
organization  and  that  upon  such  a  phrase  as  "the 
Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brotherhood  of  man,"  the 
church  universal  was  about  to  be  established.  Men  said 
that  there  would  be  no  more  Protestants,  no  more  Cath- 
olics, no  more  Jews,  none  of  the  old  sectarianism;  only 
one  universal  church  would  be  needed  to  house  the  en- 
tire army  of  God.  The  time  has  passed;  the  church 
is  not  yet  here,  and  the  Messiah  has  not  yet  come;  and 
he  will  not  come,  and  he  cannot,  come,  until  we  have 
obeyed  this  command  of  Isaiah,  "Thus  saith  the  Lord, 
do  ye  justice  and  keep  ye  equity." 

Why  the  Messiah  Comes  Not. 

The  human  mind  is  so  strangely  constructed  that 
it  can  at  one  time  think  of  one  thing,  while  the  body, 
in  which  that  mind  is  located,  can  be  performing  an  act 
directly  contrary  to  that  with  which  the  mind  is  en- 
gaged.  It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  get  men  to  concen- 
trate and  harmonize  ideas  and  deeds.  Pharisaism  still 
rules  in  men's  hearts.  They  will  go  to  church  on  Sun- 
day and  pray  to  a  moral  God,  approve  a  God  of  love, 
and  worship  him  in  the  spirit;  yet,  until  the  following 
Sunday,  they  will  act  as  if  they  forget  that  there  is  a 
moral  God  in  the  world.  Strange,  indeed,  is  this  Phar- 
isaism of  the  human  heart,  the  Dr.  Jekyll  and  Mr.  Hyde 


10 


in  each  of  us,  this  self  and  sub-conscious  self  of  which 
the  modern  psychologists  speak,  this  dual  nature  of  man. 
We  assemble  in  our  churches  and  approve  the  Ten  Com- 
mandments as  they  are  read  to  us.  "Thou  shalt  not 
commit  murder;"  every  one  approves.  "Thou  shalt  not 
commit  adultery;"  every  one  approves.  "Thou  shalt  not 
steal ;"  every  one  apjproves.  "Thou  shalt  not  bear  false 
witness;"  every  one  approves.  "Thou  shalt  not  covet;" 
every  one  approves.  Yet,  a  few  hours  later,  we  so  act 
that  we  prove  that  we  have  left  them  behind  in  the 
churches  and  synagogues. 

You  know  the  old,  old  story  of  the  sailor  who  did 
not  care  to  bother  himself  with  saying  a  long  prayer 
each  morning.  He  went  to  a  scribe  and  paid  him  to 
write  his  prayer  upon  a  large  sheet  of  paper.  This  he 
had  framed,  and  he  placed  it  on  the  wall  over  his  bed. 
Every  morning  he  used  to  say,  as  he  jerked  his  finger 
toward  the  frame,  "Them's  my  sentiments."  Many  of 
i;s  act  not  otherwise.  As  we  leave  the  house  of  worship 
we  point  to  the  two  tables  of  stone  saying,  "Them's  my 
sentiments ;"  then  we  promptly  leave  them  behind  us 
in  the  church  or  Temple  and  forget  them. 

Moral  Life  and  Religious  Belief. 

In  a  word,  the  greatest  difficulty  with  which  teach- 
ers of  religion  have  to  contend, — and  remember  that  the 
children  of  Israel  are  just  as  much  teachers  of  religion 
as  I  am, — is  that  peculiar  attitude  of  the  human  mind 
which  approves  the  good  and  follows  the  evil.  Thus, 


11 


many  believe  that  religion  has  to  do  with  this  building, 
but  that  it  has  nothing  to  do  with  the  store  or  office; 
that  it  has  to  do  with  God  but  not  with  man ;  that  it  has 
to  do  with  the  Sabbath  and  not  with  the  days  of  the 
week.  Many  men  think  that  if  the  week  is  to  be  com- 
pared to  a  dollar,  we  owe  God  14  2-7  cents  while  the  rest 
belongs  to  us  to  do  with  as  we  please;  and  that,  having 
paid  God  His  14  2-7  cents  on  Sunday,  He  has  no  right 
to  question  what  we  do  with  the  remainder.  Having 
worshipped  Him  formally  on  the  Sabbath  we  presume 
that  we  can  do  as  we  please  in  our  office  or  store  or 
in  the  pursuit  ;>r  our  profession.  Many  imagine  that 
they  have  done  all  that  God  has  a  right  to  ask  of  them 
if  they  concede  His  demands  on  His  day;  on  their  six 
days  they  demand  the  privilege  of  forgetting  Him  if 
necessary. 

The  Demand  of  Israel's  Prophets. 

Against  this  attitude  the  Prophets  inveighed.  They 
wished  us  to  understand  that,  while  every  man  approves 
nf  justice  between  man  and  man,  there  is  a  wider  ap- 
plication of  the  (principle  of  justice.  They  described  so- 
cial justice  as  well  as  individual  justice.  Every  man 
who  is  wronged  seeks  justice  at  the  law.  Society  has 
its  claims  and  they  must  be  granted,  say  the  Prophets. 
Xo  matter  how  radical  my  opinions  may  be  as  a  teacher, 
I  am  still  orthodox,  I  am  almost  a  reactionary,  from  the 
standpoint  of  the  Prophets  who  are  my  masters  and 
teachers.  They  came  to  their  people  and  they  said  in 
God's  name:  "1  ask  not  for  your  Sabbaths  and  your 


12 


sacrifices.  I  ask  not  for  your  songs  and  hymns.  Take 
away  from  me  the  noise  of  your  musical  instruments. 
Bring  me  no  more  your  vain  oblations.  I  am  weary  of 
your  fasts  and  sacrifices.  I  demand,"  God  says  through 
the  lips  of  the  prophet  Amos,  "that  justice  flow  like  a 
river  and  equity  like  a  mighty  cataract." 

Social  Service  and  Spiritual  Sacrifice. 

If  ever  a  body  of  men  deserve  our  mental  reverence, 
our  unstinted  respect  and  our  cordial  love,  it  is  this  hand- 
ful of  Jews,  who  are  known  as  the  Prophets  of  Israel, 
because  they  have  been  the  inspiration  of  every  reformer 
who  has  lived  since  their  day,  in  that  they  indicated  that 
religion  has  less  to  do  with  the  inside  of  the  church  or 
the  temple  than  it  has  to  do  with  the  life  outside  the 
church  or  temple.  In  a  word,  they  desired  that  men 
should  attend  the  public  service  and  bring  sacrifices; 
they  were  never  opposed  to  religious  cult  or  ritual  or 
ceremony,  as  such ;  but  they  also  demanded  that  hand 
in  hand  with  such  ceremonies  should  go  the  observance 
of  social  justice.  I  am  anxious  to  make  this  exceeding- 
ly clear  to  you,  for  there  are  so  many  reactionaries  in 
modern  churches,  (and  therefore  the  church  has  lost 
much  of  it  influence),  who  do  not  seem  to  realize  that 
that  which  is  called  true  and  is  approved  in  the  church 
has  no  value  unless  it  is  practiced  outside  the  church. 

The  Social  Implications  of  Religion. 

It  is  all  very  well  for  one  to  give  his  mental  assent 
to  the  command,  "Thou  shalt  not  steal,"  but  of  what 


13 


value  is  his  assent  if  he  is  engaged  in  a  business  which 
proves  that  he  has  no  moral  conception  of  what  steal- 

• 

ing  means?  It  is  all  very  well  for  one  to  say,  I  approve 
the  command,  "Thou  shalt  not  commit  murder,"  but 
what  is  the  use  of  his  approval  if  he  sells  foods  which 
are  adulterated  and  contain  poisons  which  destroy  hu- 
man, life?  It  is  all  very  well  for  one  to  say,  I  admit 
"Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness  against  thy  neigh- 
bor," but  if  he,  in  speaking  of  his  rival  in  business  or 
profession,  is  not  truthful  in  his  utterances,  if  he  de- 
stroys his  rival  by  a  word,  he  perjures  himself,  never- 
theless. Do  you  not  understand  that  these  Prophets 
wished  to  bring  home  to  our  consciousness  the  truth 
that  while  religion  is  excellent  for  man's  own  guidance, 
c<ml  gives  high  expression  to  the  relation  between  man 
<ind  God,  it,  nevertheless,  has  its  social  implications 
without  which  it  fails  to  achieve  its  true  purpose? 

Questions  of  Today. 

In  our  land  the  questions  agitating  the  people,  and 
which  are  to  be  submitted  for  their  consideration  next 
Tuesday,  are  in  a  very  real  sense  matters  upon  which 
religion  has  an  important  word  to  utter.  No  narrow 
sectarianism  can  bar  the  subject  of  social  justice  from 
the  sphere  of  religion,  if  the  Bible  is  to  be  our  guide. 
I  shall  not  suggest  how  you  ought  to  vote,  for  I  would 
not  abuse  the  privilege  you  have  conferred  upon  me  to 
stand  in  this  pulpit,  a  place  in  which  partisan  politics 
should  not  be  advocated.  But  I  would  that  you  see  the 
moral  implications  of  the  campaign  just  ending,  and  I 


14 


do  ask  you,  when  casting  your  vote,  to  realize  that,  as 
you  may  affect  the  destiny  of  this  nation  for  years  to 
come,  you  will  perform  your  duty  understanding  its 
bearing  ujpon  your  children,  your  fellowmen  and  your 
country  which  deserves  much  at  your  hands. 

Isaiah  and  Jeremiah  On  This  Subject. 

In  asking  this  of  you  I  desire  again  to  emphasize 
ihe  fact  that  our  masters,  the  Prophets,  placed  the  em- 
phasis of  religion  on  the  moral  life  in  its  personal  and 
social  aspects.  While  creeds  and  customs  and  cults 
may  have  a  certain  value,  conduct  is  the  most  important 
concern  from  the  viewpoint  of  our  religion.  From  the 
words  of  the  Decalogue  down  to  the  utterances  of  the 
last  of  the  Prophets,  our  masters  are  unanimous  in  re- 
garding the  social  duties  of  man  as  matters  of  supreme 
religious  importance.  The  text  which  suggested  this 
address  is  an  exemplification  of  this  truth.  "Thus  saith 
the  Lord,"  says  Isaiah,  ''keep  ye  justice  and  do  ye 
equity."  Jeremiah,  whom  ^you  will  certainly  not  regard 
as  a  rampant  radical,  tells  his  people  the  truth  needed 
as  much  by  Israel  in  his  day  as  by  America  in  our  day, 
"Thus  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  Israel,  Amend 
your  ways  and  your  doings,  and  I  will  cause  you  to 
dwell  in  this  place.  Trust  ye  not  in  lying  words  saying, 
The  temple  of  the  Lord,  the  temjple  of  the  Lord,  the 
temple  of  the  Lord  are  these.  For  if  ye  thoroughly 
amend  your  ways  and  your  doings;  if  ye  thoroughly 
execute  justice  between  a  man  and  his  neighbor;  if  ye 
oppress  not  the  stranger,  the  fatherless,  and  the  widow, 
and  shed  not  innocent  blood  in  this  place,  neither  walk 


15 


after  other  gods  to  your  hurt:  then  will  I  cause  you 
to  dwell  in  this  place,  in  the  land  that  I  gave  to  your 
fathers,  from  of  old  even  for  evermore,"  (Jeremiah  vii., 
3-7;,  Could  any  man  make  it  plainer  that  God  sets  social 
justice  even  above  Temple  worship,  desirable  though 
it  is? 

Ezekiel's  Statement. 

Surely  Ezekiel  speaks  with  an  authority  few  attach 
to  the  utterances  of  modern  pulpiteers!  Yet  most  mod- 
ern reformers  are  very  conservative  in  matters  of  re- 
ligion when  compared  with  the  teachings  of  this  priest- 
prophet.  Following  the  example  set  by  earlier  prophets, 
Ezekiel  indicates  the  social  importance  of  religion  and 
insists  upon  social  ethics  in  these  words,  (Ezekiel  xviii., 
5-'^)  :  "P>ut  if  a  man  be  just,  and  do  that  which  is  lawful 
and  right,  and  hath  not  eaten  upon  the  mountains  (food 
consecrated  to  idols),  neither  hath  lifted  up  his  eyes  to 
'  the  idols  of  the  house  of  Israel,  neither  hath  denied  his 
neighbor's  wife,  and  hath  not  wronged  any,  but  hath 
restored  to  the  debtor  his  pledge,  hath  taken  nought  by 
robbery,  hath  given  his  bread  to  the  hungry,  and  hath 
covered  the  naked  with  a  garment;  that  hath  not  given 
his  money  on  interest,  neither  hath  taken  any  usury, 
that  hath  withdrawn  his  hand  from  iniquity,  hath  ex- 
ecuted true  justice  between  man  and  man,  hath  walked 
in  my  statutes  and  hath  kept  mine  ordinances,  to  deal 
truly;  he  is  just,  he  shall  surely  live  saith  the  Lord  of 
hosts." 


16 


The  Words  of  Amos. 

No  less  emphatic  is  the  prophet  Amos  when  he  de- 
sires to  teach  the  social  application  of  the  principles  of 
religion.  No  man  was  ever  more  fearless  than  he  in 
his  denunciation  of  a  people  who  failed  to  harmonize 
religion  in  its  ceremonial  aspect  with  religion  in  its 
social  implications.  Says  he,  (Amos  ii.,  6-8)  :  "Thus 
saith  the  Eternal.  For  three  transgressions  of  Israel, 
yea,  for  four,  I  will  not  turn  away  the  punishment 
thereof;  because  they  have  sold  the  righteous  for  silver, 
and  the  needy  for  a  pair  of  shoes, — they  crush  the  poor 
into  the  dust  of  the  earth  and  turn  aside  the  way  of  the 
meek :  and  a  man  and  his  father  go  unto  the  same  maiden 
to  profane  my  holy  name :  and  they  lay  themselves  down 
beside  every  altar  upon  clothes  taken  in  pledge."  Do 
you  not  see  the  social  implication? 

The  Warning  of  Malachi. 

Need  I  Vemind  you  that,  in  the  only  definition  of 
religion  given  in  our  Bible,  the  prophet  Micah  insists 
that  God  demands  of  us,  (Micah  vi.,  8),  "to  do  justice, 
to  love  mercy  and  to  walk  humbly  with  thy  God."  And 
when  the  last  of  the  prophets  delivers  his  undying  mes- 
sage, we  find  him  denouncing  ecclesiasticism  and  formal 
compliance  with  ceremonial  cult,  and  instructing  his 
people  that  God  will  ever  be  a  witness  against  "sor- 
cerers, and  against  the  adulterers,  and  against  the  per- 
jurers, and  against  those  that  oppress  the  hired  man  in 
his  wages,  the  widow,  and  the  fatherless,  and  that  turn 


17 


aside   the   stranger   from   his   rights,  and   fear  not   Me, 
saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,"  (Malachi  iii.,  5,  6.) 

The  Appeal  for  Social  Justice. 

Is  it  not  clear,  then,  that  our  masters,  the  Prophets, 
the  men  who  made  Judaism,  sought  to  have  Jews  -un- 
derstand that  religion  is,  in  the  first  place,  a  matter  be- 
tween man  and  his  Maker,  then  a  matter  between  man 
and  his  neighbor,  then  a  matter  between  man  and  so- 
ciety? That,  while  religion  ought  to  bring  us  its  com- 
fort, its  solace,  its  inspiriting  power,  its  hope,  its  help, 
it  might  to  inspire  us  to  act  justly  towards  others,  and 
that  no  people  can  be  called  religious  that  does  not  de- 
mand justice  for  itself  and  do  justice  to  others?  Surely 
this  is  the  Jewish  point  of  view,  and  just  as  surely  it  is, 
in  every  way.  the  modern  world's  point  of  view!  We 
hear  less  today  about  the  gospel  of  emotionalism,  the 
gospel  of  sickly  sentimentality,  the  gospel  of  love;  and 
fortunately  we  hear  more  about  the  gospel  of  justice, 
the  essential  element  in  the  foundations  of  social  life. 
\\  e  ought  to  realize  that  God  is  loving  and  exacts  lov- 
ing-kindness of  His  children;  but  we  dare  not  forget 
that  Cod's  great  attribute  is  Justice,  and  Isaiah  preaches 
r>  whole  social  gospel  in  his  utterance,  "Thus  saith  the 
Lord,  Do  ye  justice  and  keep  ye  equity." 

The  Day  is  Dawning. 

At  last  the  Prophets  are  coming  into  their  own.  At 
last  men  are  heeding  their  messages,  and  are  beginning 
to  understand  that  their  appeal  for  social  justice  is  the 

18 


theme  upon  which  insistence  should  be  laid.  No  man 
of  refined  sensibilities  and  tender  heart  and  the  slightest- 
imagination  ought  remain  contented  in  the  presence  of 
the  world's  burden  of  woe.  Men  must  be  saved  from 
bondage  by  an  unceasing  appeal  for  social  justice.  The 
precarious  subsistence  of  respectable  people,  the  debas- 
ing poverty  of  self-respecting  men  and  women,  the  trials 
which  come  with  invalidism  combined  with  want  and 
penury,  these  and  ten  thousand  other  ills  of  society, 
should  move  us  to  call  into  power  men  pledged  to  heljp 
the  masses  upward  and  forward  through  self-help  and 
even-handed  justice. 

Germany's  Propaganda. 

We  may  see  how  this  conception  of  the  State's 
duty  to  its  people  has  advanced  Germany's  interests  and 
made  it  the  most  .efficient  of  all  the  nations  of  the  earth, 
Already  in  1876  Bismarck  realized  that  the  workingmen 
were  entitled  to  a  consideration  they  had  not  hitherto 
received.  No  matter  what  his  motive,  his  counsel  and 
his  efforts  were  in  the  direction  of  social  justice.  Of 
course  Germany  is  ready  for  further  reforms  but  one 
cannot  visit  such  places  as  Elberfeld  and  Essen  and 
not  be  impressed  with  the  vast  advances  Germany  has 
made  in  the  direction  of  removing  injustices  from  the 
masses.  Only  through  such  a  conception  of  the  State's 
duty  can  we  explain  how  it  has  happened  that  a  country 
which  was  an  autocracy  when  I  entered  public  life,  has 
become  the  model  for  the  world  in  the  matter  of  apply- 
ing the  principle  of  justice  to  social  conditions. 


19 


England's  Liberalism. 

i 

The  same  is  true  of  England  in  recent  years. 
Egregiously  as  she  failed  hitherto,  she  has  made  mar- 
vellous amends  recently.  The  program  of  such  men  as 
Asquith,  Churchill  and  Lloyd  George,  in  spite  of  the 
reactionary  efforts  of  the  privileged  classes,  has  wrought 
much  good.  Of  course  there  may  be  a  revival  of  oppo- 
sition, but  the  work  of  the  British  government  in  the 
direction  of  Old  Age  Pensions,  Social  Insurance,  Civil 
and  Political  Liberty,  Employers'  Liability,  is  a  spur 
to  us  iu  America  to  go  and  do  likewise.  These  matters 
have  left  the  realm  of  academic  discussion  and  demand 
enforcement  in  our  country  through  the  statues  of  the 
land. 

You  may  seem  surprised  that  I  cite  England  as  a 
model  to  us  in  such  matters  as  civil  and  political  equal- 
ity, let  me  add  in  passing.  But  we  have  much  to  learn 
from  the  mother  country  in  this  respect.  There  are  but 
n  quarter  of  a  million  Jews  in  Great  Britain  and  Ireland, 
and  their  influence,  as  their  opportunities  is  unbounded. 
Kufus  Isaacs  and  Herbert. Samuels  are  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  Sir  Matthew  Nathan  is  Permanent  Secretary 
of  the  Tost  Office,  sixteen  Jews  sit  in  the  National  Par- 
liament, and  live  Jews  are  hereditary  Peers.  America 
has  yet  much  to  learn  concerning  the  meaning  of  equal- 
ity. Into  the  minds  of  millions  the  idea  of  equality  has 
not  yet  entered.  The  attitude  of  so-called  refined  and 
educated  persons  in  the  matter  of  club  life  is  a  foul 
blot  on  the  escutcheon  of  American  respectability.  It 


20 


'matters  not  in  Pittsburgh,  or  Philadelphia,  or  New  York, 
how  eminent  be  a  Jewish  gentleman  graduate  of  an 
American  university,  he  cannot  be  a  member  of  a  Uni- 
versity Club.  Our  Jewish  women  in  Pittsburgh,  in  every 
respect,  class  for  class,  the  equals  of  the  best  women  of 
the  community,  though  through  Rodef  Shalom  and  the 
Council  of  Jewish  Women,  they  render  a  social  service 
of  the  highest  order,  cannot  become  members  of  the 
Twentieth  Century  (Women's)  Club  which  arrogantly 
and  despicably  closes  its  doors  in  their  face.  Personally 
I  refuse  to  enter  even  the  buildings  in  which  such  clubs 
are  housed,  not  that  I  wish  to  be  a  member  of  such  or- 
ganizations for  I  know  that  I  am  neither  a  graduate  of 
an  American  University  nor  a  woman,  but  because  I 
have  unspeakable  contempt  for  the  snobbishness  and 
arrogance  and  injustice  of  the  members  of  such  or- 
ganizations. 

America's  Duty. 

Moreover  America  needs  greater  civil  and  religious 
liberty  in  other  directions.  A  man  should  not  be  made 
to  suffer  because  he  is  loyal  and  faithful  to  his  mother's 
faith,  and  even  the  smallest  and  weakest  of  religious 
organizations  is  entitled  to  the  same  consideration  shown 
to  the  most  influential.  We  must  understand  that  Civil 
Liberty  means  more  than  the  right  to  walk  the  streets 
unmolested  or  to  cast  a  vote  at  an  election.  We  shall 
not  have  Civil  Liberty  until  education  has  become 
democratized  and  equal  opportunity  is  afforded  every 
child  in  America  to  receive  the  best  education.  There 
ought  to  be  no  favored  classes  in  a  democracy,  and,  if 

21 


the  people  can  prevent  it,  there  will  be  no  privileged* 
class  once  the  eyes  of  the  masses  are  open  to  the  evils 
of  privilege. 

The  New  Democracy. 

We  must  resist  the  advance  of  an  oligarchy  in 
America, — resist  it  for  our  own  sakes,  resist  it  for  our 
children's  sakes,  resist  it  for  the  republic's  sake.  The. 
appeal  for  social  justice  includes  in  its  program  the  care 
of  the  aged  poor,  of  the  employee,  of  the  child.  It  de- 
mands Peace  by  Arbitration  instead  of  industrial  or  in- 
ternational war.  It  seeks  amelioration  of  the  conditions 
of  the  life  led  by  the  multitudes.  It  plans  a  new  de- 
mocracy based  upon  the  idea  of  justice.  It  is  the  foe  of 
crooked  politics.  It  demands  that  a  public  servant  be 
responsible  to  those  who  have  honored  him  by  giving 
him  a  position  of  honor  and  trust.  It  means  all  this 
and  more ;  therefore,  when  we  vote  next  Tuesday  let  us 
give  our  endorsement  to  the  men  who  are  most  likely 
to  produce  in  American  life  the  harmonization  of  re- 
ligion with  social  affairs,  who  will  most  surely  give  to 
the  people  that  which  is  aptly  called  social  justice. 

Our  Obligation. 

The  day  is  here  when,  more  than  ever  before,  we 
as  Jewish  Americans,  must  understand  that  we  rise  or 
fall  with  our  fellow-citizens  of  other  creeds.  Rejected 
by  many  of  them  we  may  be,  but  we  have  not  yet  been 
rejected  by  God.  His  appeal  to  Israel  of  old  is  still 
made  to  us,  and  through  us  it  should  be  emphasized  in 


22 


•modern  life.  Like  a  trumphet  should  American  Israel 
lift  up  its  voice  in  behalf  of  social  justice.  If  any  peo- 
ple should  be  devoted  to  this  sacred  cause  it  is  Israel, 
who  first  winged  its  message  to  the  world  through  the 
Prophets,  and  whose  mission  it  is  to  live  until  each  man 
can  justly  dwell  under  his  own  vine  and  under  his  own 
fig-tree.  Today,  as  of  old,  there  comes  to  us  the  word 
of  the  Lord,  and  it  is  our  duty,  as  Isaiah  found  it  to  be 
his,  to  cry  from  the  housetops,  to  plead  at  the  street 
corner,  to  announce  from  platform  and  pulpit,  "Thus 
saith  the  Lord,  Do  ye  justice  and  seek  ye  equity." 


23 


UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY,  LOS  ANGELES 


HI  lg  iJJUg 


^  -.fi 

U  _         OT 

•       '   =o 


be 
< 
oe 
cc. 


A     000  072  486     4 


